In order to invest in new initiatives -- including the 2013 goal of reaching 5,000 children in Birmingham classrooms -- the organization hopes to raise $100,000 through the campaign, which launched on Saturday at the Freshworks Festival and continues through 2012. Protective Life has guaranteed it will match every dollar donated to Jones Valley up to $50,000 in total contributions. That money will be reinvested in teaching programs and starting a second urban farm in Birmingham at a to-be-determined location next year, according to the farm's executive director Grant Brigham. Brigham succeeded Jones Valley founder Edwin Marty last year.

The funding is part of $3 million the Birmingham-based life insurance company plans to give nonprofits in the area this year through the Protective Life Foundation. Protective Life first invested in the farm last year, but before there was money involved, there was a food connection.

Protective Life chief executive Johnny Johns was introduced to the farm by celebrity Birmingham chef Frank Stitt. Brigham approached Protective Life Foundation Executive Director Kate Cotton to see how Protective could partner. Earlier in 2011, before Brigham had taken the role as director, Protective Life had given $25,000 to the organization.

Jones Valley had started focusing on its new direction of teaching Birmingham students from Kindergarten through eighth grade, and Brigham realized it would have needs for getting the word out, both for rebranding and fundraising, but also for raising an interest within the city for food education. "As we started to craft our new direction and decided as a board and as a staff to focus on K-8 education, we knew we were going to have messaging needs," Brigham said. "Also, we identified that we already had a problem in terms of building an individual donor base that was more expansive in Birmingham that wasn't a small niche community but was really communicating to a broader community in Birmingham."

"The reason we like Jones Valley Teaching Farm is we don't see it as your typical charity where you give money," Sottosanti said. "We see it more as an investment, because our contribution literally grows. It helps these young children learn about the importance of healthy eating, provides good quality food right here in our community that is easily accessible and it's sustainable."

Rather than spending time and money on a direct-mail fundraising campaign, the farm decided to have an online giving platform, where donors can track the campaign's progress and even set up individual pages within the website for other donors to give on behalf of the farm. This also makes the campaign about more than money, Brigham said. It made the organization more efficient and helps it build an ongoing relationship with donors.

Although it's a nonprofit, Brigham's goal is to continue running it like a business in the sense that it focuses on investing resources in a way that propels growth and also creates more money that can be then poured back into current and future projects. This year, Brigham said the organization's goal is to reach 3,200 students. Last year, it taught 1,700 through inviting them to the farm for a field trip. It's "an outdoor classroom," he said. Future projects will include in-classroom partnerships with teachers.

"We have ideas that we want to execute and that we feel can be very valuable and can lead to Jones Valley having a tremendous place in the educational process," Brigham said. "It's just that we need the resources to invest in those ideas."